Under the Sea
"Under the Sea" is a song from the Disney 1989 animated fantasy movie The Little Mermaid, influenced by the Calypso style of Trinidad and Tobago. The song is a plea by the crustacean royal court composer Sebastian imploring King Triton's daughter Ariel to remain sea-bound, and reject her desire to become a human in order to spend her life with the human surface dweller Prince Eric, with whom she has fallen in love. Sebastian warns of the struggles of human life and on land while at the same time expounding the benefits of a care-free life underwater. However, Ariel manages to sneak off with the aid of her best friend Flounder just before Sebastian's finale. The song was performed in the film by Samuel E. Wright and composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman. An instrumental version of the theme features heavily in the opening theme of the The Little Mermaid television series, which is a medley of this, "Part of Your World" and "Kiss the Girl". An instrumental version of the song is also played in the closing credits of the TV series. In 2007, the Broadway musical version uses this as the featured production number with the role of Sebastian played by Tituss Burgess. Because Burgess is a tenor (unlike the baritone Wright), the key of the song was raised from B-flat to D. The placing of the song is also moved to after the scene in which King Triton destroys Ariel's collection of "human stuff" with his Trident, where the purpose of the song was to cheer Ariel up. Lyrics Movie Version Ariel, listen to me. The human world, it's a mess. Life under the sea is better than any'ting they got up there! The seaweed is always greener In somebody else's lake You dream about going up there, But that is a big mistake Just look at 'de world around you Right here on the ocean floor Such wonderful things surround you What more is you lookin' for? Under the sea Under the sea Darling it's better Down where it's wetter, Take it from me! Up on the shore they work all day, Out in the sun they slave away While we devotin' Full-time to floatin', Under the sea! (Repeat in sing along) Down here all the fish is happy As off through the waves they roll The fish on the land ain't happy They sad 'cause they in their bowl But fish in the bowl is lucky They in for a worser fate One day when the boss get hungry... Guess who's gon' be on the plate? Uh-oh! Under the sea Under the sea Nobody beat us Fry us and eat us In fricassee We what 'de land folks loves to cook Under the sea we off the hook We got no troubles, Life is the bubbles! Under the sea (under the sea) Under the sea (under the sea) Since life is sweet here, We got the beat here Naturally Naturally-y-y-y Even the sturgeon an' the ray They get the urge 'n' start to play We got the spirit You got to hear it Under the sea! The newt play the flute The carp play the harp The plaice play the bass And they soundin' sharp The bass play the brass The chub play the tub The fluke is the duke of soul (Yeah) The ray he can play The lings on the strings The trout rockin' out The blackfish she sings The smelt and the sprat They know where it's at An' oh that blowfish blow! (Instrumental bridge (First chorus sung a third time in sing along)) Yeah! Under the sea (Under the sea) Under the sea (Under the sea) When the sardine Begin the beguine, It's music to me (Music is to me) What do they got? A lot of sand We got a hot crustacean band Each little clam here Know how to jam here Under the sea! Each little slug here Cuttin' a rug here Under the sea! Each little snail here Know how to wail here That's why it's hotter Under the water! Ya we in luck here Down in the muck here Under the sea! Broadway Version Sea creatures: The newt play the flute The carp play the harp The plaice play the bass And they soundin' sharp The bass play the brass The chub play the tub The fluke is the duke of soul Sebastian: Yes he is! Sebastian and sea creatures The ray, he can play The lings on the strings The trout rockin' out The blackfish, she sings The smelt and the sprat They know where it's at An' oh, that blowfish blow! Under the sea Under the sea When the sardine begin the beguine It's music to me What do they got, a lot of sand? We got a hot crustacean band Sebastian: Each little clam here know how to jam here, Under the sea Each little slug here cutting a rug here, Under the sea We got a hot crustacean band here, Under the sea Each little snail here know how to wail here That's why it's hotter under the water Ya, we in luck here down in the muck here Under the... See, child, that's what I'm talking about! You got to put your back into it. Ariel! Hello? Uh oh. Trivia *The song was based on the song "The Beautiful Briny Sea" from the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. *The track won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989. *In 2002, the song was featured in the famous Square Enix action RPG videogame franchise Kingdom Hearts as the background music for the Atlantica world in the first Kingdom Hearts. The song also appeared in the unforgettable second game Kingdom Hearts II as part of a minigame where it was rearranged to have parts for Sebastian, Ariel, and even the young Keyblade master Sora. For both appearances, the music was arranged by Yoko Shimomura. *The song is present throughout all the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts around the world as well as the Disney Cruise Line. *Just as the Broadway version has this song placed after King Triton destroys Ariel's grotto, in The Little Mermaid Jr., the song is sung right after "Part of Your World" before Ariel first encounters Prince Eric. **Both of these placements could be due to the addition of the song "She's In Love". *The music is heard in the Phineas and Ferb episodes "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror" and "Out of Toon". "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation" parodies the song with A-Prime Calypso in Part 1. *The music is briefly heard during Aladdin just before Genie used his wish-granting magic powers to turn Aladdin into a prince in the boy's attempted to impress Princess Jasmine. During this segment, the Genie opens a recipe book to find a supposed recipe for a prince and comes upon "Alaskan king crab", a snippet of "Under the Sea" playing as he pulls Sebastian from his finger. *The song is on Disc 1 of the UK release of Now That's What I Call Disney. *At least 12 known species of fish are mentioned in the song, even though it is entitled "Under the Sea", the fish mentioned are a mix between freshwater and marine. *This song is the only song in the Disney Renaissance to be both a main and ending song and use the same singer and melody in each use. Starting with Beauty and the Beast and its titular song, the main and ending covers are sung by different people. *The dolphin who loops around during the song is likely a cameo of the minor character Breaker who was cut from the final film. *In the sing along version of this song, the first part was sung twice and after Sebastian sang "an' oh that blowfish blow!" the first chorus line was sung a third time during the instrumental break. **In the credits version of the song, several sounds and instruments are missing and the instrumental break was skipped entirely. *In the official comic adaptation for The Little Mermaid, the song was instead incorporated into dialogue. **The music band Mannheim Steamroller covered the song on their 1999 album Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse. *It is often performed by Suburban Legends during their live performances. The band performed frequently at Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort in their early years, and still often play at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace. The song appears on their 2012 album entitled Day Job. *The song is also covered by the A*Teens for Disneymania, by Raven-Symoné for DisneyMania 3 by Booboo Stewart for Disneymania 7 and later by Kate Ryan for DisneyMania 8. A remix of Raven's version is also featured on DisneyRemixMania. *The song is covered by the band Squirrel Nut Zippers on their album The Best of Squirrel Nut Zippers as Chronicled by Shorty Brown. *The Brazilian singer Diogo Nogueira made a Portuguese version of the song ("Aqui no Mar", something like, 'Here at Sea') in a samba style on the album Disney Adventures in Samba. *Powerglove was originally going to include a power metal version of the song on their second studio album, but Disney denied the rights to the song. *On the 2012 album Disney - Koe no Oujisama, which features various seiyus covering Disney songs, this song was covered by Miyu Irino. *At the 1990 Academy Awards, Geoffrey Holder performed this song. *This song was parodied in an episode of Dinosaurs entitled "Under the Water", with lyrics that went: Under the Water Under the Water Every Son and Daughter Really Oughtta Live Under the Water Category:Cartoon Songs Category:Movie Songs Category:Disney Songs